Filmmaking / Directing : Shooting on a mobile phone by Adam Harper

I believe that's the way to go in a low budget situation. I shot my first short last year and the cameraman was most expensive part of the 7,000 funded project, and I could've a done better job with my phone. If you've a great sound guy, you can pull it off.

Make sure you your script reviewed by a pro. I used Danny Manus Unfortunately everything he told me to do, we didn't do because he said cut out the female for time. We couldn't do that because she was funding project. I learned alot of lessons.

Gotto be 10 minutes or less. You can get in all festivals.

If you're taking project to festivals, where the phone can be an advatage and marketing tool, I'm interested in being on the team. For an associates producer's credit I'll provide coverage for your script and fix if you'd like. I will elevate your story. WIth me on your team you have experience - mine. I'll be at your beckon call to advise in every situation until we complete project.

I don't know how deep your roster is but I'm also a strong actor. Bad guy is my brand. Big Boss Business line 720-808-2401. Look forward to hearing from you. YOUTUBE Channel with short, etc. https://youtu.be/jHlF62YuLI8https://youtu.be/jHlF62YuLI8

Hi mate,

Its good to see that you're making such great progress.

I concur with Shawn - learn as much as you can. There are some great books on all the fundamentals of filmmaking - I really enjoyed "Directing: Film Techniques & Aesthetics"

Also, I found youtube channels very useful - D4Darios is one of my favourites he is exactly what you need https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYaIdC5pbkpECxXLjf0Lzawhttps://www.yout...

He has sound advice for first-time filmmakers/writers

And of course, I'm happy to help you where I can.

Thanks

Don

Well done Adam! I’m doing the same :) So far what I learned is you’ll need a better app to shoot than the one on your phone, I chose the MoviePro app because reviews of Filmicpro where consistent in saying it crashes a lot...I got a gimbal and it’s cool. To get DOF you need to be very close to the subject (I got an IPhone7, not sure about other models) and as Dan said, movement is tricky as you have to refocus a lot...I am storyboarding to get sick but at least I’m taking the time to forecast problems and get options in advance...good luck with it! We will need it :)

P.S.: I also got cheap lenses off Amazon, not tried them yet but it didn’t break the bank so got them to experiment... :)

Forgot to say...memory and battery! They run out like a sprinter from a building on fire...get a portable charger or your laptop. Also, check the dailies on a bigger screen cause you won’t see much on your screen...and be warned that the Iphone gets roasting hot after half hour recording...so plan long breaks between scenes!

Everyone, thank you so much! I'm so psyched to get going with this. some great tips here.

I'll check out all of the content you've recommended. I'd love to see everyone else's work too.

Don, I definitely need to read that!

Dan, I love the resourcefulness of your comments :-) there is a solution to everything.

Martina, we can suffer together :-) I'll be using an android phone (I have a Huawei P20 Pro), I bought the Cinema FV-5 app which I was recommended. I'm probably going to go out tomorrow and try shoot a few random things and see what its/I'm capable of. I'm sorted for battery but will need to look into some kind of stabiliser and extra memory.

Shawn Speake that's an awesome offer, thank you! It's early days but if you're happy for me to message you I can give you a bit more detail, to get your quick opinion, and see if you're definitely into it. I'd love to get into festivals and get myself out into the world, that should be my main aim. Let's make it happen.

Hi Anders, very good point, thank you. This is something I completely sucked at when I made my first music videos. I was scraping the barrel towards the end of editing, and it shows.

Since you'll be using a mobile phone - go get the FILMICPRO app and the add on 'cinematographer kit' kit. The two will run a total of $25 (available for iPhone, iPad and Android devices). This app will allow you to set focus, and also provide limited 'rack focus' as well as set exposure. You will also be able to shoot flat or log due to the cinemtographer kit add on. WARNING! Do not save FilmicPro footage to your cellphone, tablet 'Photos/Video' as the cell phone will try to convert the FilmicPro footage. Save the FilmicPro footage to itself and offload using iTunes. FilmicPro records at a better quality than your device. Audio can be directly recorded using the app and you can monitor your levels as well. Here's a link to the FilmicPro site: https://www.filmicpro.com/

Thanks again Dan, doesn't look like we have Target in UK but it's worth me looking around at what is available. Not sure I'd trust myself to fly a drone but it's something for me to consider too. It's amazing that aerial shots are much easier to obtain now. I am considering shooting some footage from a kayak but that depends if I get to use one of the locations I have in mind, what's the worst that could happen? :-)

Thanks Lindbergh too, I've heard of Filmicpro, I know Tangerine was made using that app, I'll definitely read into it, if it offers more than the app I bought it'll be worth the investment. Sounds like a lot of people speak highly of it.

Be cautionary in your use of the tripod. In some communities they will demand a. Permit as soon as you set. up a tripod, while with handheld you will have no problems.

If you buy Filmicpro and it works well let me know, the reviews were shocking, hence why I didn’t buy it...when are you filming? I’m filming in September...Keep a blog of the experience and share it here, Joleene was looking for blog contributions and I’m sure it’s a topic many are interested in! :)

Beg/borrow an iPhone10... Shoot 4k60p mode and buy/borrow/rent a gimbal (Amazon has some good ones).

The in-phone stabilizer is not good enough IMHO.

It will get you very good results but you'll be downloading all your scene clips a lot. Each sec of video is about 1.25MB of memory.

Use iMovie on a mac to put it all together. If you use a PC you can try Movie Creator (free from Microsoft - but I never used it).

Use either a $100 Tascam for audio or another (cheapie) iphone for sound. Mix it all together and you'll be OK.

Just my thoughts. Been there too.

https://www.zollotech.com/2017/11/17/iphone-x-review-the-positives-and-n...

Phone Shooting Tips

Accessories :

DJI Osmo Mobile 2 - great stabilizer for movement.

Aurora Aperture 37mm PowerXND2000 Variable ND filter and filter clip for Iris control Note that you can use ND gel which is a lot cheaper but doesn't look quite as good and is a pain in the ass to apply and remove.

OS / APPS:

Iphone - Filmmic Pro for manual camera control.

Android - (camera controls are already manual) -focus, white balance, ISO and shutter. There is NO iris control which is why you need the variable ND filter for exposure calc.

Settings:

ISO control (remain at 500 and lower or bit rate gets weird)

FPS - 24 for a film look

Shutter at 1/50th

Another recommendation is to pick up additional batteries if your phone has swapable batteries. Or, get a power pack.

Good luck!

Hi Erik, noted, thank you. In my mind I know the style I'd like to go for and it would include only sparing static shots, but we'll see.

Hi Martina, I hadn't thought about it but I will keep a blog, that's a good point. I'm not sure if I'll use filmicpro yet but I should probably try it at least, it's not going to break the bank like a new camera would :-) I haven't made a schedule yet, it will be later than September though as I'm at London Screenwriters Festival then and busy preparing my pitches, but after that I'm really going to push on as best as I can.

Thanks Kevin, good advice. There are so many option for good mobile cameras now. The Huawei P20 Pro that I have seems to be getting great reviews so I'm interested to see how well it works. I'm definitely looking to get a stabilzer. I've never crossed over to iPhone but the consensus does seem to be that it's worth it.

Awesome, thanks M.L! I'll note that down

I've used the Filmic Pro app to get more control out of my phone camera. I'd check out this list of apps that may be useful: https://bit.ly/2Mor1tn